A Dartmouth NetID is a permanent, personal identifier that is uniquely assigned to every individual. It is used to log in to most Dartmouth systems. NetIDs have no correlation to real or legal names, thus eliminating the necessity to change them due to a life-changing event. You will only ever be issued one and it does not change if or when your affiliation with the College changes.
All current faculty, staff, alumnus and students have a Dartmouth Account with their corresponding user name (NetID) and password. The NetID and password are what identifies you on the Dartmouth network and allows you to authenticate, providing access to your email account and other systems. It is your electronic fingerprint.
As a responsible member of the Dartmouth community, it is critical you maintain the security of your account. If someone obtains your user name and password, they can log into systems as if they were you. If you think someone is using your password or that your account may be compromised, you should change your password immediately via myaccount.dartmouth.edu.
If you are an alum, you will find additional NetID details at Alumni NetID FAQ.